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Venue of the Month

The Wedding Cake

The cake is often the focal point of the reception and needs to taste as good as it looks.

Whether you fancy a traditional white extravaganza or a tower of individual fairy cakes think about your wedding cake at the same time as the food menu. Your caterer may have a baker as part of his team, the venue may be able to recommend a favourite supplier or you can find a specialist cake maker from this website. Many high street shops also offer well-priced wedding cakes, in a variety of sizes, which can be stacked and decorated with flowers, ribbons or a mini bride and groom.

If you are using a cake maker, look through his or her portfolio of work and ask to sample a selection of the cakes. No matter how good it looks, it must taste delicious. Questions to ask your baker include is the charge per cake or per slice? What is the delivery charge? Can a cake stand and knife be provided?

An average three-tier cake will serve up to 100 guests and bear in mind the more complicated the design, the more expensive the cake will be. If you need to feed a large number of guests your baker can provide extra slices to keep in the kitchen and serve them once the main cake has been cut.

Cake styles

The traditional wedding cake is a rich fruit cake, rather like Christmas cake, with a marzipan layer before a coating of royal icing. But this isn't to everyone's taste and there is a trend towards cakes made from chocolate or flavoured sponge. You can also mix each tier so there is something for everyone. If you want to keep the top tier for your first child's christening, it needs to be a fruit cake since sponge cannot be kept in the freezer in the same way.

If you are thinking of having an exotically flavoured cake, how about serving it as dessert and cutting your budget? Once the main course is over you will need to hold the cake-cutting ceremony and then the cake can be sliced and served for pudding.

Traditional tiers: This is the most formal style of cake where small pillars are set foursquare to support each tier.

American stack: A popular and modern choice where each tier of the cake sits directly on top of another with no pillars in between.

Cupcakes: Individual fairy cakes, one for each guest, are piled into a tower on a tiered cake stand. It makes a wonderful centrepiece but does mean you won't be able to have the cake-cutting ceremony.

Croquembouche: a French dessert where cream-filled choux pastry profiteroles are piled into a tower and covered in a rich toffee or chocolate sauce and spun sugar. The bride and groom can cut it in the usual way.